DOCTOR’S NOTE

The chickenpox and shingles virus could play a role in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study by the University of Oxford.

Evidence suggests it can cause inflammation in the brain which can reactivate a HSV-1 cold sore virus.

The virus can be reactivated many times, by stress or a lowered immune system, causing damage that, over time, may lead to Alzheimer’s.

“It would mean vaccines could play a greater role than just protecting against a single disease, because they could also indirectly provide some protection against Alzheimer’s,” says the study’s lead author, Prof Ruth Itzhaki.